Just Give Me a Reason
by TributeLovato
Summary: Daisy's a trip, but she's no vacation. Pushed aside by her mother, Daisy is shipped off to Tulsa in Oklahoma for the summer, and she's not happy about it. That is until Sodapop comes along and changes that completely. Full summary inside. Set after the book.
1. Chapter 1

**Genre:** Drama, Romance, Friendship.

**Rating:** Mature.

**Warnings:** Swearing, alcohol, smoking and sexual situations, all involving teenagers.

**Pairing:** OC/Sodapop.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing used, I only own Daisy and the idea for the story. This story is purely for entertainment purposes only.

**Summary:** Daisy's a trip, but she's no vacation. She's seventeen, bright, beautiful, seriously rebellious and full of sarcastic wit that barely disguises her hurt inside. Pushed aside by her mother, Daisy is shipped off to Tulsa in Oklahoma for the summer, and she's not happy about it. But a near catastrophe gives Daisy a wake-up call and demonstrates how deeply her own actions impact those around her. Daisy's growing love for Tulsa, along with the excitement of her first summer romance, gradually strips away her defences, revealing the promising, charismatic young woman underneath her shell.

**Author's notes:** I was watching Surviving Summer (According to Greta for all you Americans) and How I Live Now the other day and suddenly got the idea for this story. This will be set a few months after the events of the book so that means no Johnny or Dally, but they will be mentioned. I really hope you enjoy it. I'll put another note at the end regarding as to why I haven't been writing recently and a few other bits and bobs but without further ado, on with the story.

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My fingernails tapped against the glass window as I glared out towards the world that rushed past me. I clenched my teeth together as I rolled my eyes at the reminders inside my head of what my good-for-nothing mother had told me before I left. I decided then and there that I would kill her when I got home, that would be my plan the second I walked through that door.

I used to spend every holiday here in Tulsa; but after dad died, I just… stopped coming and now it's been at least eleven years since my last visit. I had kept in contact with the Curtis' for a few years after I stopped visiting until one day, we just stopped and I never heard from them again.

But here I am, on my way to spend my entire summer with them because mom is trying to "save" her newest marriage. I've lost count how many times she's remarried. She's at least on husband number five by now, I'm pretty sure of it.

The bus smelt like socks that has been worn too many times by sweaty feet and hadn't been washed in months, I turned up my nose at the smell. It was almost so bad; my eyes were starting to water. I had to rub my eyes and blink a billion times a minute to stop them from watering.

After what seemed like an eternity of suffering in boredom and bad smelling buses, the bus finally arrived in Tulsa. As the bus slowly ground to a halt, I grabbed my backpack and shoved myself off that godforsaken and hideous bus.

I used my hand as a shield from the bright sunlight as I looked around the bus station for any sign of whoever was picking me up. After a few moments of looking around, I noticed a piece of cardboard with "Daisy" written across it in scrawny writing. I took a short breath before slowly making my way over towards the sign.

"I take it you're Daisy, then." A boy with dark, greasy hair piped up. He had to be around fourteen or fifteen, I was almost certain. His dark shirt and jeans made him stick out of the crowd like a sore thumb, but I had to admit that was a good thing in my case.

I nodded, adjusting the strap of my backpack on my shoulder. "Yeah, which one are you?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, Ponyboy. You probably don't remember me." Ponyboy answered, dropping his sign on the ground beside his feet.

Ponyboy, of course I remembered him. He was only a baby when I left, but I still remembered him. And with a name like Ponyboy, it was bound to stick in anyone's mind after you heard it, anyhow. He had a good pair of lungs on him and he was tough for a baby, I just wished he was older and I got to know him better before dad died.

"Yeah, of course I do. But you were a kid when I left so I can't remember much." I muttered into the floor, chewing on some dried skin on my bottom lip.

"Great, well, we should probably head home. Do you want me to take that?" Ponyboy asked, gesturing to my backpack as we walked slowly down the dusty street.

"If you enjoy lifting two tonne weights, sure." I shoved my backpack into Ponyboy's arms and carried on walking.

The hot, dry streets of Tulsa defiantly brought back memories of my childhood before dad died. Running down the streets, playing tag or hide-and-seek with Sodapop and Darry as our parents sat on the porch and talking amongst themselves, laying on the grass and looking up at the stars; all those memories came flooding back into my mind before I could shove them away.

As we arrived at the Curtis household, I nodded to myself as I remembered every inch of the house, it felt like stepping into one of my childhood dreams. As I followed Ponyboy inside, more and more of my memories came back.

"Alright, Darry and Soda are working right now so they won't be back for a few hours." Ponyboy told me as he dumped my backpack on the floor. I nodded, sitting down on one of the couches as I sigh to myself. I rested my head on the palm of my hand, closing my eyes slowly as I did and allowed my brain to think of all the things I can and can't do in this godforsaken place.

"Daisy, wake up." A voice softly muttered into my ear, shaking me gently.

I must have fallen asleep at some point because I was being gently shaken by someone who definitely wasn't mom.

Either way, I didn't like getting woken up. Even if it was by my mom. I had always been like that, never liked getting told to get up; I preferred staying in bed until I thought it was necessary to get up.

Which was almost never.

"Ugh, fuck off." I grumbled, hitting whoever was trying to wake me up gently on the chest.

"That's not a nice thing to say to your best friend." The voice said, chuckling as they spoke.

I slowly opened my eyes and sat up on the couch, rubbing my eyes as I did. My eyes drifted towards who had spoken to me and my heart skipped a beat, I knew exactly who it was. The dark, greasy hair and bright blue eyes were a huge giveaway for me.

My eyes bored into his as my lips slowly formed his name, my words coming out in a whisper. "Sodapop, it's you."

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**Second author's note: **I hope you guys liked the first chapter, and tell me what I could improve on it (if you spot anything), it would be much appreciated.

Now, to explain my absence of writing;

I've been busy with college; my acting and a whole load of issues I've had to deal with have kept me from doing these things.

I've also been on Wattpad a lot more with more writing so feel free to message and follow me on there, my username is TributeLovato. And to keep up to date with my life, follow my twitter; AllHailLawrence

Hope to see you all soon;

Lorna. (TributeLovato)


	2. Chapter 2

Sodapop and I had been stealing glances at each other the entire time we had been at dinner, I was around ninety percent sure Darry or Ponyboy had seen us do it by now or at least noticed that something between Soda and I was going on.

I mean, seriously, how dumb could you possibly be to not see the obvious eye sex that was practically going on in front of them?

_They're all dropouts, Daisy. Of course they're fucking dumb, a bit like you in this situation._

Ah, the welcoming sound of my own stupid inner voice that brings daily joy to my life whenever it's around is here to keep me company for all the times where the boys or anyone in general aren't talking to me.

Great.

Just fucking great.

Just when I thought my life couldn't get any worse, this happens and I'm in a bigger bad mood than I already was.

"Daisy, you seem to be giving those potatoes a hard time at winning your staring contest." Soda joked, bringing me back into reality from my crazy brain and my inner monologue of how much I hate my life and how badly I wish my inner voice would shut up sometimes.

I jerked up my head from my plate to glare at Soda from the opposite side of the table, shrugging my shoulders as I did so. "The potatoes were asking for it, don't blame me."

My comment made everyone give an awkward chuckle before carrying on with their meal while I just picked at it and gave more quick glances at Sodapop.

_You're here because mom doesn't care about you and she's exiled you here, not to sleep with every guy you see, you slut. _

I pursed my lips as I tried to push the thoughts away and continue eating, well, my equivalent of eating anyway. It's just like my therapist told me; put all the bad thoughts in a box, close the lid and throw away the key.

Yeah, a lot easier said than done with that, mate.

And anyway, I always thought my therapist was a piece of shit that made me feel like a complete moron with everything that went on, I didn't need one.

I don't care what my mom thinks or says; I am _not _crazy.

"Daisy, I'm not sure what your mother told you but we have rules in this house and while you're here, you have to follow them." Darry told me, before taking a drink from his glass.

I groaned, rolling my eyes. Yet more rules I had to follow and more rules I'm going to break. "She did mention them and I'm pretty sure that I wasn't paying attention."

"Well, you'll listen to me. If you want to have spending money, you're going to have to get a job and there will be a ten o'clock curfew, and no going anywhere without the supervision of one of us, it's far too dangerous to be wondering around the streets on your own. Does that sound fair to you?"

I stared at him, my eyebrows raised before telling him exactly what I thought of his set of 'rules' for me. "Let me tell you how this works; I go out when I want, wherever I want, with whom I want and I don't come back until I want to. Now, that's how it goes at Karen's and if you have a problem with that, bring it up with her. So if we do our own thing and stay out of each other's way, the summer will be over before we know it. Deal?" I look around the table at the bewildered faces of Darry, Soda and Ponyboy. "Deal." I nodded to myself, pushing my chair out and walking out to the porch.

I had always rebelled against almost every rule anyone had tried to place on me, even as a baby. Mom said I was like dad in that way, she always told me that I was more like dad than like her.

_Maybe that's why she threw me out._

I sat down on the front steps, staring out into the nothingness in front of me. The heat I had arrived in had almost disappeared, leaving the air a sort of lukewarm temperature, more bearable and liveable temperature. As the bright and warm sun started to set, the stars slowly started to come out and shine as they do every night.

I heard the door open and close quietly behind me, bringing me back to reality and out of my inner monologue as my head jerked up at the sound.

"I was expecting Darry to come and shoot me for what I said but, you'll do." I joked, a small smile playing upon my lips as Ponyboy walked over and sat down on the step beside me.

"Nobody's ever done that to Darry and lived to tell the story. So, you're the first." Pony gave me a small smile as he lit a cigarette, staring out in front of him.

"Well, I'm flattered of the honour of being the first person to out-sass your brother, I must say." I leaned back, resting my weight on my elbows as I stretched out my legs. "But apart from that, is there a reason you came out here?"

Pony nodded, taking a puff from his cigarette. "There's a bonfire in the lot tonight and we wondered if you wanted to come along."

I shrugged, pushing myself up to sit upright. "After I've changed and had a shower, I probably will."

"Yeah, well we're gonna head off in about an hour so you'd better get ready." Pony suggested, nudging my leg with his elbow before he takes another puff.

I nod, standing up and walking back into the house, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear as I do.

"Hey, I put your bags in your room which is next to the bathroom, the same as always." Soda told me as he gestured my room with his head.

"Thanks." I gave him a small smile as I walked into my room and closed the door behind me.

I opened my backpack and emptied the entire contents of it onto the bed, trying to decide what I should wear for the night. I wanted something that would make Soda jealous, simply for the fun of it and to see what would happen.

_There's nothing wrong with a little flirting and making people jealous, right?_

After a few moments of deciding and having had my shower, I settled on a pair of short denim shorts and an old light blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows.

I shoved the mess on my head that was my hair into a loose ponytail and started getting changed, debating if I should wear make-up or not.

Honestly, why the heck is being a girl so goddamn hard? Answer me that, Jesus. Or whoever's up there. I don't know; I wasn't listening in religious studies, I was far too busy painting my nails and doodling in my notebook and throwing pieces of paper at people.

And anyway, I highly doubt anyone would listen to the ramblings of a seventeen year old girl who doesn't give a crap about religion or anything like that.

I decided to wear a light pink lipstick and a little mascara before taking out my hair tie and letting my long hair run loose.

I took a deep breath as I looked at myself in the mirror. My dark eyes I had gotten from my mother were the only thing I had in common with her. My dark hair, slender body and defining eyebrows were my entire father's doing, but that's almost all I have physically of him. I got my so-called "sass" and rebellion from him but that was the sum total.

I shook my head, getting rid of the thoughts of my head as I walked out of my room and into the living room, closing the door behind me.

"So, are we going to the lot for this bonfire or what?" I asked; crossing my arms over my chest as a small smirk plays upon my lips as I see Soda's jaw drop to the floor when he looks at me.

_This should be a very interesting night, Daisy. Nice one._

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**A/N: **Sorry for this rubbish excuse of a chapter, I felt like I got sloppy as I got towards the end of it because I was really tired and I just wanted to get this chapter over with, so I'm sorry for it again.

Anyway, I made a fanmix on 8tracks for the fanfiction, just search TributeLovato and my profile should come up and the mix is called "just give me a reason" and it should be the first mix you see. Well, hopefully it should be.

And once again, tell me what I could improve on or add in, it really helps me a lot!

Hopefully, see you guys soon;

Lorna.


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